Nonlinear flexural waves and chaos behavior in finite-deflection Timoshenko beam

Based on the Timoshenko beam theory, the finite-deflection and the axial inertia are taken into account, and the nonlinear partial differential equations for flexural waves in a beam are derived. Using the traveling wave method and integration skills, the nonlinear partial differential equations can be converted into an ordinary differential equation. The qualitative analysis indicates that the corresponding dynamic system has a heteroclinic orbit under a certain condition. An exact periodic solution of the nonlinear wave equation is obtained using the Jacobi elliptic function expansion. When the modulus of the Jacobi elliptic function tends to one in the degenerate case, a shock wave solution is given. The small perturbations are further introduced, arising from the damping and the external load to an original Hamilton system, and the threshold condition of the existence of the transverse heteroclinic point is obtained using Melnikov’s method. It is shown that the perturbed system has a chaotic property under the Smale horseshoe transform.